National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir held a situation assessment on Wednesday ahead of the Jerusalem Pride march, vowing to keep all those who plan to attend safe while stressing that he plans to allow people to demonstrate against the march.
“Before I began my role, a mother of an LGBT teenager asked what will happen now with the Pride march. I pinched myself and said to her, ‘Is it not clear to you that I want to protect your son and ensure that not a hair on his body is harmed?” Ben-Gvir said.
The national security minister also stressed, however, that his policy was to enable people to demonstrate against the march as well. “I do not want anybody with a religious or haredi appearance to be stopped [by police]. This is not what is meant by freedom of speech and freedom of movement in the State of Israel.”
Dozens of opposition MKs to attend Jerusalem Pride
Over a dozen Knesset members will participate in the Jerusalem Pride march on Thursday, all from the opposition, according to spokespersons from the different parties.
Some 11 MKs from Yesh Atid will attend the march, including party chairperson MK Yair Lapid and MKs Yorai Lahav Hertzanu, Idan Roll, Merav Cohen, Matti Sarfati Harkavi, Mickey Levy, Meir Cohen, Naor Shiri, Yoav Segalovitz, Shelley Tal Meron, and Moshe Tur-Paz.
National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz also will attend the march, along with a number of other National Unity MKs.
Labor’s four MKs will attend. These include chairperson MK Merav Michaeli, and MKs Naama Lazimi, Gilad Kariv and Efrat Rayten.
Former Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Rofe Ofir will attend as well.
LEHAVA CHAIRMAN Benzi Gopstein and activists protest the annual Jerusalem Pride Parade under heavy security, in 2019. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana will not attend
The Likud’s spokesperson did not know whether any MKs would attend. However, MKs who are affiliated with the Likud’s liberal wing, such as Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and MK Dan Iluz, said that they were not planning to attend.
Likud MK Nissim Vaturi said on Knesset TV on Tuesday that “there are parents who are bleeding-heart [liberals] who encourage LGBT, why? Because they believe their son should be gay.” Vaturi’s comments came in defense of the government’s decision to appoint anti-LGBT MK Avi Maoz as a deputy minister in charge of a “Jewish Identity Authority”, which, among other roles, will increase “transparency” over what Maoz claims are ultra-progressive external programs that are taught in Israel’s school systems.
The Knesset National Security Committee discussed on Wednesday security measures ahead of Pride Month.
According to a representative of the Israel Police, approximately 2,000 officers, including some undercover, will secure Thursday’s march in Jerusalem. In addition, according to committee chairman MK Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit), “The National Security Ministry led by the minister [Otzma Yehudit MK Itamar Ben-Gvir] is treating the issue with great care and intends for all of the events to pass safely from a safety and security standpoint.”
The discussion was held after MKs Yorai Lahav Herzanu and Naama Lazimi expressed their concern earlier this week over the rise in violence against the LGBT community and threats on the march’s organizers.
“We want to understand, professionally, if [the police] is aware of the threats and how they are acting to prevent them and enable the LGBT community to march safely,” Lahav Herzanu said.
MK Michaeli expressed concern in a letter at the beginning of the week to Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai over the fact that Ben-Gvir, who has acted in the past against the LGBT community, was the minister responsible for the marcher’s security.
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